Biomedical subjects

P Clausing

Publications and source records attributed to P Clausing.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Prenatal ethanol exposure in rats: long-lasting effects on learning.

Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a liquid diet containing either 0% (group C), 18% (group L), or 36% (group H) ethanol-derived calories (EDC) from gestational day 1 to 20. Male offspring were assessed under a conditioned taste aversion paradigm (PND 35-45), in a complex maze (PND 68-80), and for operant behavior (temporal response differentiation and motivation to work for food, PND 140-198). Although conditioned taste aversion was fully acquired by all groups, retention of the conditioned taste aversion response was impaired in group H animals. Importantly, deficits in the acquisition of timing behavior were found in group H (group L not tested), confirming that this operant task is quite sensitive in detecting prenatal drug effects and demonstrating that neurological effects of prenatal ethanol exposure persist into late adulthood.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of prenatal ethanol exposure and early experience on home-cage and open-field activity in mice.

-C57BL/6 mice were intubated from gestational day 14-18 twice daily with 1.58 g/kg ethanol, 4.2 g/kg sucrose, or remained untreated. Offspring of ethanol treated or lab chow control groups were raised either by group-housed dams and weaned on postnatal day (PND) 28 or by individually housed dams and weaned on PND 21. Offspring of the sucrose control group were raised by individually housed dams and weaned on PND 21. Groups did not differ in pup weight or litter size. Offspring were assessed for home-cage activity (PND 36-38) and open-field behavior (PND 40-42). Mice prenatally exposed to ethanol showed increased activity in their home cages, whereas open-field behavior was generally not different from that of control groups. Conversely, different preweaning rearing conditions had affected open-field behavior, but not home-cage activity. In conclusion, home-cage behavior was a sensitive paradigm for detecting hyperactivity subsequent to a relatively low dose of prenatal ethanol in mice, and communal nesting/late weaning vs. individual nesting/ standard weaning may be a useful preweaning environmental manipulation to study possible modifications of prenatal neurobehavioral effects.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of prenatal ethanol exposure and early experience on radial maze performance and conditioned taste aversion in mice.

C57BL/6 mice were intubated on gestational days 14-18 twice daily with 1.58 g/kg ethanol, 4.2 g/kg sucrose, or remained untreated. Offspring of ethanol-treated or lab chow control groups were raised either by group-housed dams and weaned on postnatal day (PND) 28 (enriched condition), or by individually housed dams and weaned on PND 21 (standard condition). Offspring of the sucrose control group were raised by individually housed dams and weaned on PND 21. Groups did not differ in pup weight or litter size. Male and female offspring were assessed for performance in an unbaited radial maze (PND 45-52) and male offspring only were tested for conditioned taste aversion (PND 54-59). As hypothesized, mice prenatally exposed to ethanol and raised under standard conditions failed to develop the conditioned taste aversion response. In contrast, subjects with in utero ethanol exposure that were raised under enriched preweaning conditions developed the taste aversion response. Maze performance improved significantly over days, but no significant effects were detected for either prenatal treatment or preweaning rearing conditions. In conclusion, enriched preweaning rearing conditions abolished the detrimental effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on conditioned taste aversion, but radial maze performance remained unaffected by any treatment in this study.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Preweaning experience as a modifier of prenatal drug effects in rats and mice--a review.

The effects of preweaning experience in rats and mice on neuroendocrine and behavioral end points and their implications for prenatal drug effects are reviewed. The hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and the dopaminergic system were shown to be affected. Behavior related to hippocampal, adrenocortical functions and to the benzodiazepine receptor system was also modified. Other paradigms (nociception, conditioned taste aversion) exhibited susceptibility to such preweaning manipulations also. The effects of these early experiences seem to be mediated through complex factors including neuroendocrine responses of the pup to hypothermia and a permanent alteration of mother-infant interactions, with subsequent effects on neuroendocrine functions that are important for postnatal brain organization. Studies of interactions between prenatal drug effects and preweaning manipulations have been performed only with ethanol. When extending this work to other compounds, the systems and functions described above may provide some guidance in looking for possible interactions. In most cases the preweaning manipulations alleviated the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure. These findings may have important implications regarding the controversy about environmental influences affecting the outcome of exposure to neurobehavioral teratogens.

Animals↗